The Washington Wizards (17-30) host the Dallas Mavericks (26-21) Saturday for a 7 p.m. ET tip-off at Capital One Arena. Below, we analyze the Mavericks-Wizards odds and lines, with NBA picks and predictions.
This is Dallas’ final contest in a five-game road swing. The Mavs won and covered the spread in each of their previous three games with the latest being a 99-86 beatdown on the New York Knicks Friday.
After a slow start, Dallas has quietly been climbing the Western Conference standings and sit in 7th (the first postseason tournament play-in seed) entering Saturday.
Washington lost back-to-back games coming into today including a 114-104 loss to the Charlotte Hornets as a 4.5-point home underdog Tuesday and a 120-91 blowout by the Detroit Pistons as a 1-point road dog Thursday.
The Wizards have been without leading scorer SG Bradley Beal for the past three games and have lost five of their past seven games while going 3-4 against the spread.
These teams split last year’s regular-season series 1-1 but Washington covered the spread in both games despite Beal shooting .340/.190/.727 with a 91 offensive rating in those meetings.
Mavericks at Wizards: Odds, spread and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 1:50 p.m. ET.
- Money line: Mavericks -190 (bet $190 to win $100) | Wizards +155 (bet $100 to win $155)
- Against the spread/ATS: Mavericks -4.5 (-110) | Wizards +4.5 (-110)
- Over/Under: 226.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
Mavericks at Wizards: Key injuries
Mavericks
- C Willie Cauley-Stein (health and safety protocols) out
- SG JJ Redick (heel) out
- PF Kristaps Porzingis (knee) out
Wizards
- SG Bradley Beal (hip) questionable
- C Daniel Gafford (ankle) out
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Mavericks at Wizards: Odds, lines, predictions and picks
Prediction
Wizards 119, Mavericks 114
Money line (ML)
Slight “LEAN” to WIZARDS (+155) for a quarter-unit if Beal can play. Wait until as close to tip-off as possible to get a final injury report because if he cannot play then just stick with Washington plus the points.
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Against the spread (ATS)
While Wizards PG Russell Westbrook is regularly dogged online for his reckless play, Mavericks All-Star PG Luka Doncic is averaging 6 turnovers per game and Westbrook is averaging 3 steals per game in their four head-to-head meetings to date.
Westbrook out rebounds and throws more assists per game when playing against Doncic.
Furthermore, this would be considered a “bad spot” for the Mavs since they are 1-6 ATS in their last seven games playing on no rest and the Wizards are 9-7 ATS as a home dog this season.
Finally, nearly 90% of the market is betting the Mavericks to cover here (according to Pregame.com) yet bookmakers are bringing the line down from Dallas being favored by 6 points on the opener.
The only reason why the House would make Dallas cheaper ATS is to goad bettors into taking action on the Mavericks.
Take WIZARDS +4.5 (-110) for 1 unit.
Over/Under (O/U)
Since Dallas is 9-4 O/U as a road favorite, Washington is 11-5 as a home dog and there are offense-focused superstars on the floor tonight, I “LEAN” OVER 226.5 (-110) for a quarter-unit.
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